The Importance of the Houses and Harry's judgement ( LONG)

[prep0strus]

No: HPFGUIDX 138037

With thanks for the praise given to my snipping technique earlier,
I've decided with this post to wipe the slate clean - not of ideas,
simply of words.  I'm not sure I could respond clearly amongst the
posts of everyone else, so, while understanding everyone else may
continue the discussion in a snip-happy environment, I'm going to try
to express some of the thoughts I've had about what I've read here.

I'll try to recap the expressed opinions of some of the discussion
topics in as superficial and disrespectful a manner that I can.  So,
in the order that they come to mind...


Draco: Evil, or ok guy?  Side of good? Misjudged by us? Are we tainted
by Harry's opinion?  Is he 'The Good Slytherin'?  Is he the son
Voldemort never had?

IMO? Draco's a bad guy. No doubt about it. First class jerk. Is he
evil, or will he turn out to be evil? That remains to be seen.  DD
certainly think he can be saved.  I would not be surprised if he turns
out to be a 'good' Slytherin, and does not become a Death Eater.  But,
even if he does, this doesn't make him nice, or likeable, and I don't
think that's simply because we see him from Harry's perspective. 
Yeah, he and Harry have a rivalry, and we see him from Harry's view. 
But he's also been taught rather faulty values from his parents.  He
rags on Ron before we know much about either because he's poor.  He's
what amounts to racist in these books, hating Muggleborns and
halfbloods.  He's been raised in a family that admires and worships
Voldemort and the Death Eaters, and shows no remorse at the harming of
his fellow students in CoS.

Do I like Draco as a person? No.  Do I like him as a character?
Actually, more and more.  He's being fleshed out, becoming interesting
- but I'll never really LIKE him.  The same thing goes for Snape.  The
discussions on him are intense and endless, but I'll never like Snape.
 His character could go in different directions - evil, good, redeemed
already, will be redeemed, falls somewhere in between, etc.  He could
wind up being the most interesting character in the series.  But let's
not forget - he's a jerk.  A lot can be because of how he sees Harry
because of how he knew James... but he's also the most biased teacher
in the school. He's nasty to students like Hermione & Neville.  And,
he doesn't really seem to have a side that we don't see.  Even in the
face of Dumbledore's fun and acceptance, sullen exasperation appears
to be his response.

Harry's point of view.  That seems to be something we're looking at a
lot - how does it affect our point of view of a character?  Well, I'd
say, a lot - but it's supposed to.  Even if we dismiss what JKR says
in her interviews, and stick to book canon, this is Harry's story. 
We're SUPPOSED to see it from his perspective.  We're supposed to like
him, to mostly agree with him.  And that doesn't mean he's always
right, or never takes a wrong step, but for the most part, his eyes
are the eyes JKR wants us to see the world with.  And there are times
when we don't - the first chapters of HBP.  These are the times we see
characters through narration that is not tainted by Harry's presence.
 If JKR wanted us to see 'more' to a character, we would.  Now, that
doens't mean characters might not have more, but unless we see it in
Book 7, that's how the character is.  It's fun to speculate and see
what lies behind the books, but if we want to stick to canon, we need
to stick to what has been shown us.

And some things would be subjective for Harry - Ron might not be the
most pleasant person if you weren't his best friend.  He has his own
preconceived ideas and prejudices.  But we also see that Ron, and his
family, are strongly against Death Eaters, against Muggle/Muggleborn
prejudices, and for Dumbledore.

Compare this to what we've seen of just about every Slytherin we've
been shown.  Draco revels in his Death Eater lineage, rejoices in the
pain of Muggles and Muggleborns. In the company of all Slytherins,
it's acceptable and accepted to be pro-Voldemort.  Does that mean
every Slytherin believes that? No, but it sure shows where the
strength and popular opinion lies.  And we haven't been shown the
Slytherins who don't.

Slughorn was who all this started with.  A Slytherin who I firmly to
believe on the side of good - and not one who even had a tendency
toward evil, but managed to overcome it the way many of us expect
Snape & Draco too.  He doesn't even have the pureblood prejudice.  But
this doesn't make him likeable, and I don't think that's just because
of Harry.  Harry didn't have a reason to prejudge Slughorn too much
anyway - a friend of Dumbledore's (though, we have seen that backfire
- Crouch!Moody), who liked his mom, who was open to Muggleborns... but
Harry sees quickly that Slughorn is interested in himself, in his
'connections', his influence.  And quickly disgards those who can't
add to his web of worthiness.

I don't think this is us being deceived by Harry's view.  I think this
is how JKR wants us to see Slughorn.  He's not an evil guy, but I
think he still has enough negative Slytherin qualities to make him
unlikeable.  And, in my earlier posts, this is what I was lamenting -
a Slytherin who is likeable.  Not one who is important to the plot, or
who will help the good guys, or who 'brings balance to the force, i
mean hogwarts'.  i want a slytherin who is just a nice guy.  a nice
guy who's crafty and has pureblood, or who is ambitious for himself
and his friends but in a really nice way. I dunno. a NICE Slytherin.
and while JKR certainly believes in the houses, and how they're all
necessary, and I think we will see members of each house work to
defeat Voldemort in 7... she hasn't shown us a nice Slytherin. 
They're out there, I guess. but she hasn't shown us one.  And that's
where my acceptance of the house system breaks down.

I liked the houses a lot - i like order, and categories, and seeing
different sides of them, i think it's interesting, and useful.  But I
think it just hasn't been used to its potential.  The houses are not
monolythic - in the house we see most, Gryffindor, it can't be - we
need traits from all types of people to make our team work.  But we
can see the courage inherent in them, the string that ties them
together.  I just wish the other houses could have been given a bit
more.  The making Hufflepuff the house for, 'the rest' really makes me
sad for them, and want to change the whole house system.  I mean,
caring about loyalty, cool.  Saying she'll just teach anybody who
isn't brave, smart, or Slytherin... it makes them seem like a lower
class.  When RL people think about being sorted, how many want to be
Hufflepuff?  We see some cool Hufflepuffs, like Cedric, but that hat
song still grates on me.

The same for Slytherin - I want to know how the song that states it's
for those whose blood is purest can be defended.  Snape & Riddle, two
of the most prominent Slytherins we have - not pureblooded.  And, so,
going back to what I said originally, JKR has made Slytherin the house
of those who are mean.  Probably evil, if not evil, than mean.  For 5
books we had Draco - the meanest bully in school, and his goon
buddies, one of the greatest evil wizards and most of his evil
lackeys, and the teacher who was evil, now might be redeemed, but is
always a jerk.  Now, in Book 6, we're thrown a character who, by all
appearances, is not evil, or an obviously bully/jerk, but is still
fairly unpleasant.  and it appears that this is to be our 'good
slytherin'.  Slughorn gets quite a lot of credit simply for being the
least objectionable Slytherin we've come in contact with.


Let's not forget how the houses react to each other - most of the time
we see Gryffindor up against Slytherin - the headiest rivalry in the
school.  And who do Ravenclaw & Hufflepuff almost always back up
(except when it's Harry-bashing time?) - Gryffindor.  The way they
play Quiddich isn't just something we believe because we see it from
Harry. They're brutal and mean.  And while the Good & Evil setup works
 early on, especially in children's books, I really feel we should've
seen more now if each of these houses truly is supposed to be equal,
important, and respectable.

Wow. This post meandered quite a bit from what it was supposed to be.
 Sorry for the length, and for any perceived snarkiness.  Maybe your
comments will help me to better define my thoughts. :)

~Prep0strus, who, no matter how many times he says it, still is more
focused on the fact that Lee Jordan wasn't in HBP than on any other
aspect of the series.